Not Another DotMobi Post!
December 8, 2007 · Print This Article
The week has been saturated with posts about the goings on in the dotmobi world. No need for me to repeat this, you can find good coverage all over the domainersphere at Sahar’s Blog, DN Journal, Andrew’s Blog, Domain Name News, and Elliot’s Blog.
The first piece of in depth analysis I’ve seen about all of these events comes from Michael, and is well worth reading closely. He believes that these events are somewhat of a turning point for .mobi. He believes that the top 100 or so .mobi domains will do well. As well, if the major phone companies and telecoms begin advertising .mobi extensions in the mass media, then the extension as a whole will do well.
I think Michael’s analysis is good, but I disagree with him on a couple of points. He states:
I also think that if you are an owner of one of the top 100 .mobi domains then you’re unlikely to lose out. You will always be able to on-sell the domain to a large corporate wanting to defend their position from competitors.
The top 100 or so domains in almost any extension will do well. I don’t think that any doubted that before about .mobi – I’m not sure this week’s events have changed that. However, I’m doubtful whether Alvaro Albarracin will be able to sell his names at a significant profit in the short run. In the long run, there is a significant carrying cost for the domains that must be factored in. I do think that his domains will go up in value over the long run, but there is no fundamental reason why his names will go up in value faster than premium names in other non .com extensions.
As well, I disagree with Michael about the mass media marketing of the extension. When (and if!) it does occur, I can’t see it having as large an impact as he states. I think that people’s “.com habits” are too well ingrained. ccTLD’s have obviously made an impact on people’s internet habits, but they have played on something that has been around for ages – people’s nationalistic feelings. There’s nothing like that involved in .mobi. On top of that, a lot of companies are already marketing m.domain.com, so there is at least one competitive standard to .mobi.
Michael still remains cautious about .mobi – he says “.mobi is still speculation.” I agree completely, and don’t think that this week’s events in dotMobi land have changes anything about what I have previously said about the extension.
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